Stavros Crete

holiday report and Stavros Crete map

Stavros beach Crete

Although the beach area of STAVROS Crete is very attractive, the village itself is quite the opposite. Indeed many hesitate to call it a village at all as it is little more than a scattering of houses and, latterly, apartments and holiday hotels.
Stavros is found on the northern tip of the Akrotiri peninsula about 14km from Chania. There are usually about six buses daily to Chania but they can be irregular and you are better off visiting the place with your own transport.
Stavros has a couple of restaurants and a few shops. There is no nightlife to speak of and there are row upon row of drab and characterless apartments, almost all of them empty out of the summer season.
A couple of mini markets provide the basic supplies in Stavros while a larger supermarket can be found about 3km away at Chora Sfakia.
The beaches around Stavros - there are two either side of a narrow headland - are set in dramatically beautiful bays with large rock outcrops behind. Many beach scenes from the film 'Zorba the Greek' were filmed here.
To the east of Stavros is a small beach and fishing harbour and to the west a longer stretch of sand, with rocks and rock pools further along the shore.
There is a small beach cantina at Stavros serving the basics and a taverna lies just across the beach road. Both Stavros beaches tend to be very quiet during the week but fill up at weekends as this is a very popular place with the locals.
There are other beaches to enjoy nearby including Kalathias, about 6km to the south where there is windsurfing and scuba diving. The rest of Akrotiri is a fine pace for nature lovers with plenty of hiking paths, some old monasteries and several ancient ruins to visit.